Paul Peszko made a bold statement that the Emerald Bowl is the most important postseason game of the decade for USC. I’m not quite sure I can agree with that statement, but let’s take a look at some of the points he makes. If this team is really going to treat it with the same kind of intensity as their national title games, then this is a team you might want to keep an eye on when making your bowl picks. Of course, when looking at the bowl game odds you’ll see they are a hefty 9-point favorite to win anyway.
This is a team that had two appearances in the Orange Bowl and a victory over Texas in 2006 would have given them at least a share of three straight national titles. However, Pete Carroll has done a lot of talking about the rebirth of the program and recreating the winning spirit, saying it all starts with this game. A loss would end an already disappointing season on a down note and hamper this “rebirth.”
There are a lot of questions about the players that will be returning and if they are up to the task of carrying on the tradition, and this game will be a nice test to see where they stand.